Mr. Jow,
Your concern about the electoral process in Cote d'Ivoire, especially
developments in the last twelve hours, is shared by many following the
abrupt halt to the vote count, or more accurately, vote results. Suspicion
of the opposition may have been heightened by the announcement made on
behalf of the National Electoral Commission that the election results will
now be made public tomorrow (Tuesday ) at 11:00 GMT. With both Guei and
Gbagbo claiming victory, what is evident is that the partial results
officially released thus far show Gbagbo to be in the lead over Guei by
about 10 percentage points (51% to 40.44%) with about 7 per cent of the
votes counted/announced.  Also evident is that voter turn out has been
extremely low (about 30 per cent by some estimates)which further re-enforces
the position held by the international community which considers the
elections as lacking in credibility, resulting in their withdrawal of
financial and technical support. The remarkable calm and serene election
atmosphere which prevailed up until mid-day Monday is fast dissipating with
Gbagbo's supporters taking to the streets this afternoon. Abidjan is
reported to be quiet this evening, however, albeit with heavy army presence
in the business district and around the electoral commission's headquarters.
We will see what tomorrow brings. NOTE: The national television station has
just closed for the day (00:30 GMT) without the usual final newscast.
Infact, it has been on auto-pilot (with films and music videos and without
voice announcements) since the brief appearance of the newscaster at around
20:00 promising more results.
Sidi Sanneh
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